Lambie may name `danger doctor'

JACQUI Lambie may name an allegedly dangerous Tasmanian hospital doctor in the Senate if the state government does not act on serious claims.

JACQUI Lambie may name an allegedly dangerous Tasmanian hospital doctor in the Senate if the state government does not act on serious claims.

"One of my options is to use parliamentary privilege to name this medical professional in order to protect the people of Tasmania," the Palmer United senator said yesterday."Of course, I would rather that the state government stand this person aside pending the results of an independent investigation into [a whistleblower's] report, but if they fail to carry that out then I will take all steps necessary to protect Tasmanian families."

As revealed in The Advocate yesterday, a whistleblower claims the doctor placed many patients at risk while working in another state.

Among other things, the doctor allegedly put patients at risk of death or serious harm through incompetence, and allegedly ignored many complaints of patient harm.

The government did not commit to investigating, telling the newspaper there was a national body to properly investigate such matters.

Senator Lambie said she was convinced there was real danger to the health of thousands of Tasmanians.

"And I'm very worried that five days after the Premier acknowledged receipt of my letter and [the whistleblower's] report, nobody from the government has contacted either myself or [the whistleblower] to ask for further information or report what steps are being taken to investigate the matter and protect the public."

A spokesman for federal Health Minister Peter Dutton said: "While it is important that all serious concerns related to regulation are thoroughly investigated, both the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency operate independently of government."